He asked us, “Does anyone one of you have a best friend?” Most, if not all raised their hands. The next question he posed was, “Have you communicated with them lately?” “Yes!” was an impromptu chorus. “Well then…was the conversation as candid as it used to be earlier?” Hmm…some food for thought and the class went silent with moist eyes reminiscing the many moments even time could not fade from memory and a stingy lump in the throat. “I bet it wasn’t”, he said to the silence. Little pairs of eyes flashed back and forth at one another before being interrupted, “Why so? Well, this is what is called ‘communication gap’”, he explained. I raised my hand, “But, Sir, though I feel we speak lesser and lesser each time we meet, my best friend and I, I never feel the gap. It may be just because we meet after very long intervals of at least a year, sharing everything on our minds is just too tiresome. We rejoice on each other’s sight and love the fact that we can laugh through moments shared between just these two pairs of eyes. You see, it’s not our words. It’s the time that creates this invisible gap. However, between my friend and I, the gap seems not to exist as I speak to her every day, sharing the nuances of my hostel life. So far away yet, so close. I don’t see her, I can’t touch her, she cannot reply. But on the inside, I’m sure I have communicated with her - telling her all that I do, all that I think and all that I feel. It relieves me of stress to be knowing that I have spoken; heard or not is not what matters. Speaking is communicating, being able to express is communicating. And I am gradually becoming good at this task of communicating. When I reunite with my friends, the only one type of communication that is left is the communication through unspoken words, the screaming of our facial expressions and the sparkle in our eyes. The time we can feel each other the most is when this form of communication takes over the former. And as I conclude, I feel I have improved in this form of communication since I have moved to this hostel. My friend is one who listens to me before I speak,” and I sat down, happy with myself, clearing the air of confusion that started to surround and waiting to haunt me, knowing that no kind of gaps are present between my friend and I.
-For Shruti :)
From Rabiya
